GP4 worth buying now the patch is here ?

Hi all, I wanted to buy GP4 at the time, but a lot of you made me change my mind... How is the state of the sim WITH the patch ? Thx all

In article <WiKD9.15730$[email hidden]>, "Trick Dacy" <[email hidden]> wrote:

Quoted text (10 lines)

>Hi all, > >I wanted to buy GP4 at the time, >but a lot of you made me change my mind... > >How is the state of the sim WITH the patch ? > >Thx all > >

i just read some reviews on bhr. it doesn't look good.

BHR ? Obake <[email hidden]> schreef in berichtnieuws 3ddf8d77$0$22327$[email hidden]... > In article <WiKD9.15730$[email hidden]>, "Trick Dacy"<[email hidden]> wrote:

Quoted text (12 lines)

> >Hi all, > > > >I wanted to buy GP4 at the time, > >but a lot of you made me change my mind... > > > >How is the state of the sim WITH the patch ? > > > >Thx all > > > > > > i just read some reviews on bhr. it doesn't look good.

www.bhmotorsports.com "Trick Dacy" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:WVND9.16097$[email hidden]...

Quoted text (20 lines)

> BHR ? > > Obake <[email hidden]> schreef in berichtnieuws > 3ddf8d77$0$22327$[email hidden]... > > In article <WiKD9.15730$[email hidden]>, "Trick Dacy" > <[email hidden]> wrote: > > >Hi all, > > > > > >I wanted to buy GP4 at the time, > > >but a lot of you made me change my mind... > > > > > >How is the state of the sim WITH the patch ? > > > > > >Thx all > > > > > > > > > > i just read some reviews on bhr. it doesn't look good. > >

On Sat, 23 Nov 2002 12:14:46 GMT, "Trick Dacy" <[email hidden]> wrote: >I wanted to buy GP4 at the time, >but a lot of you made me change my mind... > >How is the state of the sim WITH the patch ? They fixed the menu flickering problem. Which made the game literally unusable for me before. I reinstalled it just to check it out, and while I honestly dunno what was fixed I'm enjoying it more than I did before. Probably because I can set up my controller and navigate the menus now. =) Now that I can actually use the game without pulling my hair out, I like it. It's flawed to about the same degree as F1 2002 imho, but in opposite ways. Both suffer from the same "floating over the tarmac" feeling. F1 2002 has incredibly unreailstic tracks with high frequency bumps that the engine just doesn't handle well. GP4 has great tracks but are smoother than I would expect from a modern sim. F1 2002 has high-polygon models with crappy textures, GP4 has low-polygon models and bitmapped objects but uses much more pleasant/"real" textures. F1 2002 doesn't model the knife-edge of grip in a modern F1 car as well as it could but is still fantastic - a modern F1 car will drift and slide which is good but the line between grip/no grip seems too wide to me. When the tires break loose it seems relatively easy to catch the car and keep going if you aren't overdoing it, when most driver accounts that I've read (not just from F1 drivers, either) indicate that once a high-downforce car is past the limit there's no dragging it back. GP4 seems good at modelling the fine line between being on the edge and having no grip at all that is present in modern cars, but I wonder if drifting (which is possible if you're lucky/careful) might be a bit harder than real life. Both sims seem to model torque well (i.e. a duffer like me might as well put traction control on if I don't want to stuff it into the wall leaving the pits =) and each has pros/cons in the braking model. Miscellaneous is a mixed bag between the two, F1 2002 models gearboxes better at least in the sense of each car having a fixed number of gears (dunno if they go into more detail gearing-wise besides the number and ratios tho, it would be interesting to see a sim model the gearbox in more detail) while the wet weather model in GP4 simply can't be touched by anyone. F1 2002 has individual steering wheels for each car, while I find GP4's on-wheel LCD easier to use. It's a shame there's no demo, because I think it's largely a matter of taste as to which modern F1 sim you'll like more. Personally, I think they're equally good and equally flawed. Right now I'm having more fun with GP4, it's just more my cup of tea, but I would recommend trying both of the current modern sims if possible before buying either. Here's the readme for the patch FWIW: --------------------------- Geoff Crammond's Grand Prix 4 ***************************** Readme File (English) Patch V9.6 November, 2002 1. How to install the patch *************************** If you've obtained the Patch V9.6 from a website, unzip the file named "GP4_patch v9.6.zip" and run "setup.exe". "Setup.exe" will install the patch over the game. If you've got the Patch V9.6 on a CD. Insert the CD into your CD-ROM drive. If autorun is enabled, follow all on-screen instructions. If autorun has not been enabled, you'll have to double-click on the 'My Computer' icon on the Windows Desktop, then on the CD-ROM icon, and then click on "Set-up.exe". Follow all on-screen instructions. If you already got the old patch V4.0 on your computer, you need to uninstall the game and reinstall it to be able to install this new patch. 2. Patch V9.6 fixes ******************* The following problems should be fixed with the patch V9.6. If some of them remain on your computer, please contact us through our website "http://www.grandprixgames.com" or through our hotlines. 2.0.1 Latest Info ***************** Controller navigation cannot occur unless the user goes to the menu set up screen and enables the option. It is possible to navigate through the menus with a controller if the steering, brake and accelerator are on controller A. (user should only enable the navigation option if steering, brake and acceleration are all using controller A.) 2.0.2 Controller **************** For Wheels controller information, please refer to the "read-me Wheels controller GP4" and the latest FAQ 2.0.3 FAQ (Frequently Asked Question) ********* You will find the latest FAQs on our website "http://www.grandprixgames.com" 2.1. Microprose fixes ********************** List of Bugs that have been fixed in V9.6: 1. The game will install and run perfectly well at the first launch. If the player quits the game and then returns at a later date the game will not run again. 2. In the Drivers' select screen, Panis and Villeneuve's names are swapped: Panis's photograph is displayed with Villeneuve's name and vice-versa. 3. Season 2001 cars and drivers: Alex Yoong has the wrong helmet in the game. He has been given Tarso Marques' helmet. 4. The BAR cars have swapped numbers. In the game Jacques Villeneuve car has number 9 and Olivier Panis number 10. In the actual entry list for the F1 season 2001, Jacques Villeneuve's car was entered as number 10 and Olivier Panis' car as number 9. 5. After a user plays the game for a while and then returns to the main menu he will find the mouse cursor is unusable, flickering and jumping uncontrollably across the screen. This prevents the user from entering and typing in filenames and selecting any other options. 6. Pits drop down monitor: In hotseat mode, while qualifying, when you change player, while viewing the drop down monitor in the pits, it displays the wrong laptimes/drivers. 7. Best lap time in qualifications: Sometimes the game will post wrong lap/qual times in the skybox messages. Skybox show a new fastest lap/pole time set by player A, but it displays the wrong lap time, the one just beaten. The displaying of the beaten pole time seems only to happen when the player beats a pole time he himself has set previously or set by an AI. 8. Car's mirrors when changing player: If it is the second players turn, and the first was in the pits when play was handed over, the mirrors on the car are not updated properly in helmet camera view. The car changes, and it is placed in the correct garage, yet the mirrors will display the previous pit crew men and garage. 9. MPH displayed in KPH: If Imperial units are selected in the menu setup, then speed is shown in Miles Per Hour (MPH). If the player then watches a replay with TV overlays on, then the speed measured in the speed traps is displayed in the TV overlays in Kilometres Per Hour (KPH). 10. Used tyres displayed in hexa-decimal on the LCD screen: When player selects used tyres from the steering wheel, the tyre menu displays the amount of laps the tyre has been used for in hexa-decimal. For instance, 26 laps is displayed as 1A. When the tyre is selected and the player returns to the main menu on the steering wheel, the number of laps driven is displayed correctly. 11. Car set up display: Car set up of two drivers are not displayed correctly: for Pedro de la Rosa the car set up available in driver screen is Alex Young's for Alex Young the car set up available in driver screen is Thomas Enge's. 12. When the player has activated the dynamic light at the maximum resolution, then when the game loads the race (for example Monte Carlo race on non race championship mode during the qualifying or the race), the player has a back to windows. GE FORCE 3 Ti500. 13. TV overlay bugs: 13.1. When cars went into the garages some driver names would subsequently sometimes be displayed as a series of blanks(squares) and no timing information. 13.2. The intermediate and finish line displays were intermittent. 13.3. If the pole holder went into the garages then other cars times would be compared to their own times instead of the pole time, with the driver name on both sides of the screen (implying that there is not yet a pole lap) 13.4. There was no split time difference display for the intermediate 1 and 2 positions. 13.5. The pole holder name and data appeared on the right side of the screen (left in real life) and so the "viewed car" data was displayed on the left when the intermediate 1 and 2 screens were displayed. However when the car crossed the line the FINISH LINE display had the "viewed car" data on the right of the screen (as in real life). So the "viewed car" data would be on the left for intermediates and on the right when it crossed the line. 13.6. The times stayed on the screen too long (for 16 seconds) and became too far away from the actual track positions. Real life durations of 8 seconds have been put in. 13.7. This patch fixed a crash to desktop caused by missing pit-props (objects that the pitcrew use). If the pitcrew was just out of sight then it could cause a crash. List of Bugs that have not been reproduced after installation of the patch V9.6 (should be fixed): 1. The game will install fully. When the player launches for the first time the Safe disk splash screen appears, then the program will drop to the windows desktop. Sometimes the program will show a full black screen before dropping out. 2. Sometimes the pit crew will not let player/AI car leave the pit stop. Happens only in race mode. As a result the car is stuck forever. When the team-mate pulls in for a pit stop later in the race, he will park behind you and wait for his turn to be serviced. Thus the race can never end since the two cars will never cross the finish line. And even if they could, the race is pretty much destroyed anyway. The only way to continue is to leave by pressing "Esc" and clicking on "Accelerated time", but in this case, you've been obliged to abandon the race. The bug can happen on any track, and on any lap. 3. Sometimes on the track (any motor circuit), when the heat haze is activated, then the car who precedes (or who follows) the player's car disappears. This bug is visible with the camera behind the player's car and when there is some distance between the two cars. 4. Green rev counter leds: Sometimes the green rev counter leds on the steering wheel go out when they should not. It is single leds that go out, not the whole string. It can happen to any of the four green leds, and in any game mode. Seems to happen more often, but is not limited to, when traction control is activated. Has not been observed in AI controlled cars. 5. Marshalls staying on track's side: Sometimes the marshalls forget to leave the track after they have cleaned up an accident. The yellow flag zone does go away but the marshalls continue to stand by the track side for the remaining duration of the race. 6. Damaged car graphics not updated: After a crash that damages the car, then when you are put back into the pits by a marshall or player uses Shift"+"Q", the repair car routine doesn't always work properly. The damage model is updated, but the graphics are not. Hence, the car still looks damaged. 7. Disappearing skid marks: When racing with race distance set to 100 %, suddenly all the trackmarks (the burned rubber from wheelspin and skid marks etc.) disappear; The track is clean again and no new marks are added. 8. Wheel disappearing: Sometimes, while driving or after loosing a wheel and going for a pitstop, one of your wheels disappears. You can still drive as if it was there, but it is not displayed anymore. 2.2 Simergy Ltd fixes ********************** The following bugs have been fixed by Simergy in their latest core technology: 1. AI Cars could leap in the air if they moved off a slip road. The size of the effect would depend on the track. 2. AI cars could veer off the slip road when entering the pits behind a player car. 3. The effect of wing breakage was too small. The effect of understeer or oversteer is now greater and also depends on how badly the wing is damaged and takes into account combinations of simultaneous front and rear damage i.e. if the front and rear wings are both completely removed then the balance of the car is still relatively neutral (but there is still some aerodynamic down force due to under car ground effect). 4. The performance of the front running AI cars when in 2001 season distribution mode had a slight degradation when compared with the lap times when in "all the same" mode and the spread of lap times across the grid was too big. Since the "all the same" mode was correct when compared with real lap times, the 2001 season mode has been lifted slightly to remove the degradation and the spread has been corrected. This affects all levels (rookie to ace). "All the same" mode has NOT been affected! 5. The performance of the player's car is unchanged except that the slipstreaming effect when behind another car has been modified to make it less beneficial. 3. Web Site ************ At Infogrames, it is a priority to ensure that you have everything you need to get the best out of your product. In fact, our web sites are designed to enhance your playing or learning experience and not just be there to help if you have a problem. Therefore, Infogrames has a full and exciting web site dedicated to ensuring you can see the latest information, obtain technical support, download the latest upgrade, read the latest hints and tips and a great deal more. You can reach the site at: http://www.grandprixgames.com 4. Credits *********** Geoff Crammond's Grand Prix 4 Credits For Simergy Ltd Game Design & Programming Geoff Crammond Performance Analysis & Test Driving David Surplus For MicroProse Studio Manager & Executive Producer Nick Court Producer Phil Gilbert Software Engineering Manager Nick Thompson Art Director Andy Cook Lead Programmer Gareth Jones Programming Neil Alford Jason Barstow Jalea Clements Simon Michael Matt Patterson Duncan Rooth Jeremy Sallis Nick Thompson Jason Turner Additional Programming Neil Duffield Julian Foxall Steve Haggerty Tim Round Audio Systems & Programming Nigel Brown Lead Artist Andy Cook Artists Pete Austin Carl Edwards Maff Evans Eddie Garnier Lisa Godwin Jeffrey Miranda Greg Shill David Smith Track reference surveys Norman Surplus Additional Artwork Halli Bjornsson Noel Uche Audio Producer John Broomhall Original Music James Hannigan Additional Location Recording Pete Guppy Motion Capture Studio Manager Tony Wills Motion capture artists Dave Hingley Andrew Lee Rob Millington Mick Sheehan All motion capture undertaken with the kind assistance of the Orange Arrows Formula One Team. GPAEDIA VIDEO PRODUCTION Featuring Mark Hemsworth Script Mark Hemsworth Ossi Oikarinen Andy Cook Sound & Original Music John Broomhall Camera Matthew Grant Editing Matthew Grant Andy Grierson Directed by John Broomhall Andy Cook Produced by Phil Gilbert THANK YOU... John Cook Laura McNamara Andy Rogers of Jemlar (www.jemlar.com) Nvidia Logitech Steinberg Software for audio production systems SPECIAL THANKS GO TO the Orange Arrows Formula One Team for all their help during the development of this product Office Manager Christine Upham Administration Assistant Pat Edwards --------------- Jason